Origins

[Salkovich]

I just started listening to RPPR this summer, and I was wondering - how did the group all come together?

[Arje]

It involved many summoning circles and the blood of (questionable) virgins. I can tell you that much.

[Salkovich]

It involved many summoning circles and the blood of (questionable) virgins. I can tell you that much.

Yes, this fits with my theories.

[Setherick]

how did the group all come together?

Which group? There's probably been three or four distinct groups now.

[Arje]

Exactly.

I was tapped to fill the minority quota once Mike left.

There are many origin stories.

[Setherick]

Exactly.

I was tapped to fill the minority quota once Mike left.

There are many origin stories.

Who is the dumb but lovable now?

[rayner23]

I just started listening to RPPR this summer, and I was wondering - how did the group all come together?

Ask a simple, polite question and get a bunch of asshole answers.

I'll be a bit more helpful:

I was working at a local comic book shop and Ross was a comic subscriber. I always felt like he was rude and I wasn't a big fan of him, but I knew he liked Cthulhu, so I asked him about it one day and that was all it took for he and I to become friends. He kept asking me to join his gaming group and I kept finding excuses until he asked enough times that I had to finally give in.

Our first game was the infamous "Sheriff Ernie Hudson" incident.

[Tadanori Oyama]

If you listen from the beginning you'll see they aren't really any different from any other gaming group. The first few APs are, more or less, random collections of people who never return (with a few exceptions, like RJ being in the first Modern League game and then coming back down the line) and new people entering and leaving through out the year according to their schedules.

The real question should be how are Tom and Ross such good friends that they've managed to game together this long with all these other weirdos orbiting around them.

So, if we assume Ross is the central body of the group, being the primary GM, than we can build out from there.

Jason's origins are unknown to me but alot of the less repeated players seem to have been friends of his and entered the game via him, like Mike.

Tom brings people through, like Aaron and the two dudes from the Prototype games, who come from his own gaming circles (which has also changed considerably).

I'm not sure if Bill or Dan came first since they seem to be linked via their old living spaces but I know Ross was in Bill's 4E game so Bill was probably a shop pick up.


I have some vacation time left... I think I'm going to make a diagram as this thread continues to reveal new information.

[Arje]

In all honesty, Ross and I know each other from classes.

We are media nerds. Also just seeing each other at gaming stores.

[Setherick]

I just started listening to RPPR this summer, and I was wondering - how did the group all come together?

Ask a simple, polite question and get a bunch of asshole answers.

My first answer was a serious one.

The "original" RPPR gaming group came together in the Spring 2005 when Ross invited Tom, Karee, Jason, and I together to play COC. Tom and Jason couldn't make it for some reason that is now forgotten, but Karee and I went and played. (The game we played was a game set in WW2 Russia based on the Colors Out of Space.) The 2005 group for that summer consisted mostly of Tom, Karee, Jason, and me with Ross running games. Most of the games were played were DG games. The games were broken up by a Mage campaign that Ross, Karee, and I were players in that ended abruptly in August. At which point, the RPPR group added Jordan (the infamous Shotgun 5) and Tim for a game of All Flesh Must Be Eaten where we played characters based on ourselves. We then played a four month Iron Heroes campaign. Then we played a four month D&D epic campaign. Then the Masks of Nyarlathotep which took five months. And started another epic D&D campaign. This was the basic RPPR schedule for spring 2005 to August 2007 when Karee and I left Springfield. This was about the time that Ross started podcasting the show regularly and posting consistent APs, which marks the point where RPPR begins for most listeners and board members. (Hell, even players.)

[FuzzyDan]

I originally met Tom and Ross via Matt.  The same Matt that Ross and Tom have discussed overpowering and destroying his games time and time again.  This was Matt's 3.5 Star Wars game about the beginnings of the Rebellion.  Ross was a Jedi Counselor, and Tom was a Trandoshan soldier.  I joined the campaign midway as an Ewok Shaman (Force adept), travelling the galaxy looking for a way home.  Eventually I learned martial arts and became a Force Warrior, and was able to take out an Imperial Commander with a called shot to the first vital area within reach.

Things I remember about that game:

Gabe and Ross may have been jumping around like super heroes, decimating stormtroopers, but I broke the line with a called shot to the nards.
Blaster rifles.... so many blaster rifles...
Defaming the Emperor by our tech guy transposing his image into Trandoshan porn and plastering it all over the Holonet.
Pretending to be imperial officers, muscling our way through a building, and Ross had his iPod playing Battle Without Honor or Glory.

Anyway, we went our own ways for a while until Jason brought me to Ross' for the Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign.  (Dear Powers Above and Below, how I wish we were recording back then.)  Jason and I met through a friend at the Library where he worked before he became a Grad student, and came back to work over a summer break.

[clockworkjoe]

Tom and I have known each other since high school.

Patrick and Jason I met through grad school. Karee I met through Patrick obviously.

Cody was from the comic book shop.

Dan is from Matt's circle of friends. Bill I met through Dan. Jon and Katie (the santa claus game and the D&D best game ever video) are from that circle of people as well.

Mike I met through Jason. Same with Brian (bright eyes guest player)

Caleb (the newest player and lady gaga in cyberpunk) I met through Cody.

Aaron I met through Tom.

RJ was from school and was part of a circle of people from St. Louis. The 2 guest players in prototype were from that circle. One of the St. Louis people ran the WW2 civilian game that I have mentioned several times on the show. They are mostly back in St. Louis or have conflicting schedules now.

[+1 Hat]

Dan is from Matt's circle of friends. Bill I met through Dan. Jon and Katie (the santa claus game and the D&D best game ever video) are from that circle of people as well.

Not quite, but close.

Late Christmas Break '05-'06, Matt running Twilight 2000 as a modern-day one shot set in Iraq, Gabe and I played with you and someone(s) else, and then joined up for the last 4 or so sessions of the Iron Heroes campaign. Then a D&D one shot at Johnny's (& Nathan's) apartment during ICE STORM '07, then dropped off the world for a year or two.

[Setherick]

Dan is from Matt's circle of friends. Bill I met through Dan. Jon and Katie (the santa claus game and the D&D best game ever video) are from that circle of people as well.

Not quite, but close.

Late Christmas Break '05-'06, Matt running Twilight 2000 as a modern-day one shot set in Iraq, Gabe and I played with you and someone(s) else, and then joined up for the last 4 or so sessions of the Iron Heroes campaign. Then a D&D one shot at Johnny's (& Nathan's) apartment during ICE STORM '07, then dropped off the world for a year or two.

I remember sitting in on the character creation of the D&D one shot at Johnny's. What happened to that game?

[clockworkjoe]

Dan is from Matt's circle of friends. Bill I met through Dan. Jon and Katie (the santa claus game and the D&D best game ever video) are from that circle of people as well.

Not quite, but close.

Late Christmas Break '05-'06, Matt running Twilight 2000 as a modern-day one shot set in Iraq, Gabe and I played with you and someone(s) else, and then joined up for the last 4 or so sessions of the Iron Heroes campaign. Then a D&D one shot at Johnny's (& Nathan's) apartment during ICE STORM '07, then dropped off the world for a year or two.

yeah i just associate you with Dan since you were roommates